3:30 p.m. update: At least 14,000 ballots still to be counted in Butte County

OROVILLE — Voter decisions in the 2012 election in Butte County will likely be finalized by Thanksgiving, Butte County Clerk/Recorder Candace Grubbs said today.

Grubbs said there were 14,000 or more ballots throughout the county not yet counted.

Grubbs said the counting of provisional ballots and mail-in ballots from Monday and Tuesday at polling places has started, and there was a hope to have an update on Friday or Saturday.

She said there was a likelihood that errors and exceptions could be found as counting occurred, such as ballots dropped off at the wrong polling place.

Those final ballots might play into some of the tight races, but Grubbs thought the decisions wouldn't end up that close, that there will just be more votes attributed to the leaders.

"It's 14,000 spread throughout the county," she said.

As of this morning, there were eight votes separating Chico City Council candidates Randall Stone in fourth place with 8,782 votes and Andrew Coolidge in fifth place with 8,774 votes. But incumbent Bob Evans, in sixth position, earned 8,019, a difference of 763 votes to Stone's.

00020000059D000004BB 597,Also in Chico, there was a 1,796-vote difference between Chico Unified School District trustee candidate Linda Hovey in second place with 12,212 votes, and third place Gary Loustale, with 10,416 votes.

In the Oroville City Council race, third-place finisher and incumbent Thil Chan-Wilcox had 163 votes separating her from Freda Flint, with 1,291 for Chan-Wilcox and 1,128 for Flint.

For the Feather River Recreation and Park District, both the four- and two-year term races are close.